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Heavy Metal And Other Occasional Musics And Cultures

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Album Reviews

Album Review: ÚLFARR – Fornetes Folm / His Crown Grows From His Skull

ÚLFARR’s debut full-length, Orlegsceaft, arriving as it did in late December of 2023 gave it both the notable honor of being the last album released in the year that I’d review and allowed it to qualify for my much-respected Top 20 albums list for 2023. Which it did. And now, they’ve done it again. The Cumbrian horde returneth with Fornetes Folm / His Crown Grows From His Skull. ‘Alarūna’ ushers we in, conjuring the droning incant of Atilla Csihar initially, but soon enough shifting to early CRAFT in attack, merciless, but more ancient, and the more foreboding for it. Slicing […]

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CYHRA (Featuring Former Amaranthe and In Flames Members) Sign To RPM + Release New Standalone Single, ‘Superman’

CYHRA, the champions of melodic metal, have unleashed their latest single ‘Superman’, heralding a new era since the release of their third album, The Vertigo Trigger. The track explodes with headbang-inducing riffs, as vocalist Jake E teases its epic, melody-rich chorus against a backdrop of sharp instrumentals. The almost spoken verses escalate to a larger-than-life chorus, culminating in irresistible, sing-along choirs that emphatically signal CYHRA’s trajectory is set to soar above and beyond at breakneck speed! “Sometimes, life tests our limits, but when we choose to rise, dream, and believe, we find the strength to be unstoppable. Because deep down, […]

Album Reviews

Album Review – MÖRK GRYNING – Fasornas Tid

MÖRK GRYNING might’ve missed the first shrieks of second wave black metal in its native Scandinavia but, since 1995’s Tusen ảr gått…, founding members Goth Gorgon and Draakh Kimera and cohorts spread their shadows of melodic blackness over a handful of impressively solid albums until Mörk gryning of 2005. This would spell what most of us though was the end – and credit and hails to the founder(s) for halting the band when they felt their passion waning – yet metal in any form be a hard beast to tame, and thus was Hinsides Vrede born as the world writhed […]

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OCTOPLOID – ‘Coast Of The Drowned Sailors’ [feat. Tomi Koivusaari] lyric video & first headline tour

OCTOPLOID, fronted by bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine (known for his work with AMORPHIS, BARREN EARTH, and MANNHAI), are wrapping up an eventful 2024 with the release of a brand-new lyric video for ‘Coast Of The Drowned Sailors.’ This year marked the release of their highly praised debut album, Beyond The Aeons, as well as their first live performance. Taken from the album featuring an impressive roster of prestigious guest musicians, ‘Coast Of The Drowned Sailors’ highlights vocals by none other than Laine’s AMORPHIS bandmate, Tomi Koivusaari. Known for his iconic growls, Koivusaari lends his signature style to the track, creating […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: CMPT – Na Utrini

From even CMPT’s initial offering, 2021’s Mrtvaja EP, it was clear there was something otherworldly about the work of sole entity Vidak Lešina. To clarify, a sense of “otherness”, rather, of being both outside of time and deeply interwoven with it. Krv I Pepeo continued the feeling, deepening the connection with the CMPT’s Balkan homeland by delving further into the obscurity of the area’s folklore. Returning three years to the month after Krv I Pepeo, Na utrini acts as a prequel to the events of that album and, while I’m generally not a fan of releasing an album out of […]

Music News

Swiss shoegaze outfit LAST LEAF DOWN return with new single, album coming 2025

It took some time, but Swiss LAST LEAF DOWN are finally back, marking their long-awaited return with the new single, ‘Silence’, and bringing their signature “dreamy shoegaze from the woods” back to life in a further developed sound. Stream ‘Silence’ at THIS LOCATION “I worked on this song for a very long time and went through a rollercoaster of emotions with it. It is very special to me because it triggers something unique in me, as if it takes me in its arms and looks back with me, in security and with a little distance.” comments LAST LEAF DOWN mastermind […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Ian Blurton’s Future Now – Crimes Of The City

IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW may have a pretty awkward name but they’ve managed to pull off something many others have tried and failed at; creating a genuine classic hard rock sound in the vein of the ’70s. Crimes Of The City is one of the best attempts at this that I’ve heard in a long time. The songwriting here is just so effortless and natural. All the tracks are in the three to four minute window that much classic rock dwells in. Not a wasted breath or riff is apparent here. Who does FUTURE NOW take inspiration from? Well, I […]

Music News

PLANET DESERT ROCK WEEKEND: full lineup revealed

Vegas Rock Revolution’s Planet Desert Rock Weekend has revealed the full lineup for its fifth edition, with twenty international heavy rock, psych and doom acts to take the Las Vegas stages over the January 30th-February 2nd, 2025 weekend! Curated by Vegas Rock Revolution founder John Gist, Planet Desert Rock Weekend has become a major event for all heavy rock fans nationwide and beyond. More than just a festival, it’s an experience: Planet Desert Rock is designed to be an intimate weekend where festival-goers can hang out with likeminded rockers and the musicians that create amazing music — it’s a party […]

Album Reviews

Album Review: Wuldorgast – Cold Light

‘Obscured In Shadows’ throws its head back in a magisterial and mighty howl from the start, ascending and descending riff patterns, a definite early ‘00s DARKTHRONE vibe to both the tempo and Feral Spirit’s (henceforth F.S.) vocal proclamations not unlike Fenriz of the aforementioned, who shan’t be again, because there’s at once something fresh about what WULDORGAST is bringing this early on in Cold Light. Neither blanching at the idea of stretching a song to just under the breaking point as in the opener, nor averse to the “get in, do damage, get out” aesthetic, ‘Natural Life Is Eternal Battle’ […]

Music News

KARLA KVLT: New German Sludge/Post-Rock Trio Formed By Members Of Eisenvater And Melting Palms To Release Debut LP, Thunderhunter, Through Exile On Mainstream February 21st

Exile On Mainstream is thrilled to welcome back Markus E. Lipka, the driving force behind Eisenvater with his new band, KARLA KVLT. Together with his son Johann Wientjes on drums and his daughter-in-law, Teresa Matilda Curtens, on bass and vocals – both also in Melting Palms – the trio delivers a raw and monolithic album that is unique in style and approach. The alternative music scene in the 1990s vibrantly questioned traditional listening approaches and came up with some of the most interesting concepts in that sense. While it was bands like Melvins, Unsane, Swans, and Cop Shoot Cop on […]

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